WASHINGTON, D.C., July 22, 2014Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, joined other religious leaders for a tour of two Texas facilities for migrant children today.
The tour was hosted by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and national and state Southern Baptist leaders along with the Catholic Bishop of Brownsville visited a Customs and Border Protection facility in McAllen, Texas, and a Health and Human Services facility at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Moore comments on his experiences at the facilities:
I was struck as we were walking through the facility with two things: a sense of fear and a sense of hope. A sense of fear when I asked the kids why they made the trek up to the United States. And a sense of hope: I saw many crosses and Bibles. Many people are desperately hoping for an end to the violence where they come from. What is not complex is the truth and the reality that these children are created in the image of God. They matter to God.
“This visit put a human face on a moral crisis for me. These children are not issues to be resolved but persons bearing dignity and needing care. The issues involved are in this crisis are complex, but our first response should be one of compassion and justice, not fear or disgust. That said, I am deeply encouraged by the response of Christians to this crisis. Pastors here are ministering to children who are alone, desperate and scared. We need to be praying for a just resolution, and quickly.
The Southern Baptist Convention is Americas largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.8 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBCs ethics, religious liberty and public policy entity with offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
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